Where are they now? Catching up with the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023

It’s been just about two years since PhocusWire named the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023, the startups that launched as the industry was recovering from the pandemic.

As we prepare to announce our Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2025, we’re checking in with some of the companies that were named on our lists over the past few years.

We caught up with a selection of a few members of the class of 2023, including Fetcherr, Grapevine and Holibob. Responses have been edited for brevity.

Fetcherr  

Fetcherr's generative pricing engine (GPE) leverages AI to generate optimal marketing moves, creating strategic pricing edge for businesses.

Answers from co-founder and chief strategy officer Robby Nissan:

The biggest challenge I’m dealing with today is… managing the high demand for our products and the massive scale up.  

My view on the current funding environment for travel startups… last year we had a successful round B - raising $90M, but since we are an AI company and not a travel startup, I can’t relate to that environment. 

There has been increased M&A activity in travel. My approach to evaluating such an opportunity – on the buy or sell side – would be… we are not evaluating a selling opportunity since our technology haven’t even started to fulfil it’s potential in the airline industry and in other markets. As for buying – we strategically do not buy tech companies or products since all of our tech is proprietary.  

The technologies or innovations that excite me most are… because… AGI and decision making intelligence because they're aligned with Fetcherr's vision.

Grapevine

Grapevine is a B2B AI technology that empowers travel businesses to identify missing retailing opportunities from data and optimize booking revenue through intelligent, post-booking remarketing and personalized traveler communications.

Answers from founder Jack Dow:

The biggest challenge I’m dealing with today is…  finding enough time in the day! We have signed five new clients in the past two weeks which is super exciting and I have just kicked off a funding round, so it is all go. 

My view on the current funding environment for travel startups… I think there is a large funding gap (and opportunity!) at the seed stage in travel. Fundraising for startups in any industry is challenging at the moment, especially in today's post-zero interest rate policy environment, but travel significantly underperforms other industries when it comes to the ratio of investment to market size. Ironically, pre-seed is probably the easiest time to fundraise in travel, because many angel investors have experienced problems first-hand, and can see the potential and like the founders and their passion. At Series A, businesses are typically at $1 million-$2 million annual recurring revenue and so have metrics to prove product-market fit (PMF) and therefore can attract capital.

But at the seed stage, where startups haven't quite reached PMF and just need a leg up to build the team to deliver, the pool of VC investors (typically required when raising $2 million-$5 million) is limited. This is a real blind spot for the industry as great innovation is being stifled. I believe there is an opportunity for the industry itself to step in, potentially creating a pool of capital to back promising startups at the seed stage who have been 'sponsored' by a panel of industry experts or even pilot customers in that specific vertical. The net positive to this would be huge for the industry.

There has been increased M&A activity in travel. My approach to evaluating such an opportunity – on the buy or sell side – would be… I suspect every startup in travel has weeks when they feel they are ready to conquer the world and will never sell, to weeks when they feel being acquired would be a welcome relief! When asked recently what advice Jensen Huang, the founder of Nvidia who now has a net worth of $125 billion, would give his 35-year-old self when starting the business, his response was 'don't do it!' Ultimately, what drives founders is building solutions that solve problems for people. Assuming the business is going well, the question is therefore whether being acquired will accelerate the chances of success, either due to complementary skill sets, or a larger audience. 

The technologies or innovations that excite me most are… because… as both a startup and a traveler it's the prospect of offering a true end-to-end experience to travelers. The idea that a traveler can get personalized right time, right channel communications, pre-empting the information they need at the exact time they need it is hugely valuable. Combined with the reassurance this provides corporates that their employees are being looked after (including reminders of what they want them to know!), we have an exciting few years ahead.

Holibob

Holibob connects travel brands, agencies and local providers with personalized recommendations of things to do in destinations.

Answers from co-founder and CEO Craig Everett:

The biggest challenge I’m dealing with today is… as a scale-up, sales are always the biggest challenge. Continuously gathering insight from customers and the wider market to refine go-to-market strategy requires constant attention and effort.

We’re excited by the huge level of interest in the experiences vertical and the effectiveness of our inbound and outbound lead generation efforts. However, managing resources to service this and maintain it at a continuously high level is a massive challenge. This is especially the case in travel which is such a global market. 

My view on the current funding environment for travel startups… it’s a great time for seed and Series A founders, as we’re entering a new investment cycle. However, for those in later stages—Series A and beyond—the bar for securing new capital is very high. Investors are laser-focused on unit economics and sustainable growth, rather than just top-line expansion. It can be a difficult shift, and Holibob is navigating it like many others. 

There has been increased M&A activity in travel. My approach to evaluating such an opportunity – on the buy or sell side – would be… given the position of Holibob in the market and the fact that experiences, as a vertical, remains largely untapped, we’re regularly involved in M&A conversations with key industry figures. We are always excited and interested in these conversations given Holibob is uniquely positioned to help travel brands break into this space quickly and effectively.

When evaluating partnerships, we focus on alignment with our vision—connecting travelers with incredible things to do. A potential partner must accelerate this journey with us. That’s our key consideration in any M&A or partnership decision.

The technologies or innovations that excite me most are… because… the experience vertical remains ripe for disruption, and personalizing recommendations to travelers is a hugely under-served area which is one of the reasons conversion in experiences lags behind other verticals. LLMs and other AI innovations are evolving rapidly making content creation, tagging and presenting relevant content far more achievable. It’s a challenging space, but the potential is hugely exciting.